Definitions

Merchant

Fulfillment center

Merchant's staff in charge of fulfilling orders of all or particular products

Customer, Buyer, Shopper, Purchaser

A company or a person buying products from Merchant

First-time buyer

A customer that never purchased products from the merchant before

Returning customer

A registered customer that had purchased products from Merchant before

Supplier

A company whose products the merchant sells to customers. Merchant is the supplier of products and services he produces himself

Drop shipper

A supplier that delivers ordered products to Merchant's customers from a warehouse he owns and operates. Merchant doesn't own any of the supplier's inventory

Vendor, Manufacturer

A company that produces products sold by the merchant. Merchant is the vendor of products and services he produces himself

Affiliate

A company or a person that promotes a merchant's store in exchange for commissions

Shipping carrier, Carrier

A transportation company, contracted by Merchant to ship and deliver ordered tangible products to customers

Payment service provider, Payment system, Payment gateway

A company contracted by Merchant that enables him to accept payments from customers

Anti-fraud service provider

A company contracted by Merchant to screen customer orders and estimate their fraud risk

Product

An item Merchant sells or resells to customers. It is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a want or need: tangible and intangible products, services, product bundles, or even a mix of these.

Tangible product, physical product

A physical product (able to be touched or felt), capable of being shipped to a customer

Intangible product

A non-physical product, not capable of being shipped to a customer; including download-only products

E-good, digitally distributed product, downloadable product

A product delivered to a customer over Internet

Inventory, Products

Products Merchant sells to customers; these products are usually in Merchant's possession

Product quantity

An amount of a product expressed in units of measurement specific for the product. Depending on the units of measurement it can be either an integer or a fractional value

Product unit

The product quantity that equals a unit of measurement for the product

Inventory level, Stock level, Quantity on hand, Quantity in stock

The product quantity, currently held by a drop shipper or Merchant. It can be unlimited for some products

Quantity on hold

The product quantity, currently held by a drop shipper or Merchant, but not available for purchase for some reasons (e.g. when is reserved for fulfillment of placed orders)

Back-order limit

The maximum product quantity that can be back ordered

Pre-order limit

The maximum product quantity that can be pre-ordered (for products which have not come into the market yet)

Product cost

The price at which Merchant orders one product unit from a supplier

Purchase order, PO

A commercial document issued by Merchant to a supplier, indicating products, quantities, and agreed prices the supplier will either provide to the merchant or will drop ship to a customer. Sending a PO to a supplier constitutes a legal offer to buy products. Acceptance of a PO by a supplier usually forms a one-off contract between the merchant and supplier, so no contract exists until the PO is accepted

Product price

The price which customers pay to Merchant for one product when no special offers are applied

Serial number, Product key

A unique identifier attached to a particular product unit by Merchant. Merchant can use serial numbers provided by suppliers and vendors

Serialized product

A product unit that has an individual serial number attached to it

Product catalog, Catalog

A collection of offerings which Merchant makes to customers, organized with hierarchies and relationships to make it easier for customers to navigate to the products that they want to buy

Offering, Catalog entry

A product or a set of products, offered by Merchant to customers at a specified price

Simple catalog entry

A catalog entry representing a unit of a product

Product case

A catalog entry representing a set of multiple units of the same product

Product bundle

A catalog entry representing a set of units of multiple products

Assemble-to-order product, Build-to-order

A catalog entry that can be combined by customers with other catalog entries in accordance with combination rules set for them. The resulting combination is shown in orders as a line item with its own SKU made of SKUs of the combined entries

Product options

A catalog entry that combines with an assemble-to-order product

Subscription

A catalog entry which customers subscribe to for certain period of time during purchase

Subscription prolongation

A catalog entry which customers purchase in order to prolongate their subscription

Product variants

Catalog entries having a common set of product attributes and denoted in the product catalog as different variants of the same product

Product information

Product description

Information on a catalog entry describing it to Customers, expressed in a narrative form with optional images, photos, and multimedia object.

Product attribute

A characteristic of a catalog entry

Product specifications

A set of product attributes a catalog entry has. Product attributes in product specifications can be split into several groups

Quantity of a catalog entry

An amount of a catalog entry expressed in units of measurement specific for that entry.

For simple catalog entries it is the same as quantities of the products the entries represent. For complex entries like product cases, product bundles and assemble-to-order products it is the multiplier for quantities of products the entry is made of.

Unit of a catalog entry

The quantity of a catalog entry that equals a unit of measurement for that entry

Quantity of a catalog entry, available for purchase

The quantity of a catalog entry that currently can be ordered by Customers

For pre-ordered catalog entries it depends on pre-order limits of products the entry is made of. For other catalog entries it depends on the current inventory level, the quantity on hold and the backorder-limit set for products the entry is made of

Sold-out catalog entries, Out-of-stock catalog entries

Catalog entries not available for purchase

In-stock catalog entries

Catalog entries available for purchase

Unit price

The price which customers pay to Merchant for one unit of a catalog entry

Catalog price

A unit price when no special offers are applied on the catalog entry. Equals the sum of prices of products the catalog entry is made of

Negotiated price

A unit price that is established through meetings between a customer and Merchant during order placement

Special price

A unit price that replaces the catalog price due to an applied special offer

Discounted price

A catalog price discounted due to an applied special offer

List price, MSRP, Manufacturer's suggested retail price

The unit price a manufacturer recommends that Merchant sells a catalog entry for

Order

A request issued by a customer to the merchant, indicating catalog entries, their quantities, and agreed prices Merchant will provide to the customer. No contract between the merchant and the customer exists until the order is accepted by the merchant

Pre-order

Order of products which have not come into the market yet

Back order

Order of products above their current inventory levels

Order reference

An identifier attached to an order by which customers, Merchant and fulfillment centers can refer to the order

Suborder

A part of the order that is being shipped from a specific address to a specific address. An order can consist of multiple suborders. For example, either a customer may indicate different shipping addresses for different products in the shopping cart, or products can be delivered from different fulfillment centers

Order line items, order lines

Items which sums into the total order cost and which are shown in order details, invoices and receipts as separate lines

Ordered item, order item

A catalog entry ordered by a customer, shown in orders as a line item

Adjustments

Positive sums which adjust the total order cost when added to the order subtotal and which are shown in orders as line items

Ordered products

The products which ordered items are made of

Total order cost, Order totals

The total sum a customer must pay for his order to Merchant

Order line value

The total cost of the line item calculated as item quantity multiplied by the individual item price

Item quantity

It is either the ordered quantity of a catalog entry, or 1 for adjustments

Item price

It is either the unit price of the ordered catalog entry, or the sum of the adjustment

Order subtotal

The sum of order line values of ordered items

Receipt, order receipt

A record given to a customer after payment that lists the purchases made, the total order cost including taxes, discounts and other adjustments, the amount paid and the method of payment. Receipts may also include messages from the merchant, warranty or return details, special offers, advertisements or coupons. A receipt is a legal document

Invoice, order invoice

An invoice is a commercial document issued by the merchant to the customer, indicating the products, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services the merchant has provided or will provide to the customer. An invoice indicates the customer must pay the merchant, according to the payment terms, shown in the invoice

Payment terms

Conditions under which the merchant will make a sale. Typically, these terms specify the period allowed to a customer to pay off the total order cost

Billable entity

Something that is included into orders as a line item with non-negative item value. I.e. something a customer pays for

SKU, Stock-keeping number, Product code

A unique identifier that is attached by Merchant to a catalog entry or to any other billable entity (e.g. gift-wrapping cost, handling charges, ...)

For assemble-to-order products can be made of SKUs of several catalog entries the assemble-to-order product is made of

SKU, Merchant SKU

A SKU attached to a product by Merchant

Supplier SKU

A unique identifier attached to a product by its supplier

Manufacturer SKU

A unique identifier attached to a product by its manufacturer

Barcode

A barcode symbology for tracking trade items in stores

UPC, Universal Product Codes

Barcodes used in Canada and the United States

EAN

Barcodes used in Europe

Wish list

A list that contains products that the customer either may want to purchase at some point in the future or want to receive as a gift.

Gift registry

A wish list of products the customer wants to receive as gifts from guests invited to an event the customer will celebrate.

Depending on the event type the gift registry can be called differently:- Bridal registry- Baby registry

Gift wrapping

Enclosing a gift in some sort of material

Wrapping paper

A kind of paper designed for gift wrapping

Shopping cart, cart, shopping basket, basket

A list of products and quantities that the customer is going to purchase

Store languages

The languages in which information is provided to Customers

Shopping language, Customer language

The language in which information is provided to a particular Customer

Billing currencies, Store currencies, Supported currencies

The currencies in which Merchant can transact with his Payment Service Providers and are accepted in the store

Customer currency, Buyer currency, Shopping currency, Order currency

The store currency in which the merchant prices catalog entries to the customer

Payment currency

The currency in which a particular customer pays for catalog entries purchased with Merchant

Currency code

The three-letter ISO 4217 code defining the currency.

Currency conversion rate

A multiplier used for conversion between different currencies

Payment

An exchange of money for ordered products between a particular Customer and Merchant via services provided by a Payment Service Provider contracted by Merchant

Initial payment

The first payment on a recurring payment service, for which Customer submits payment details. These details are then re-used for all subsequent payments

Recurring payment, Subsequent payment

A payment that is repeated on a regular basis using the payment details entered for the initial payment

Payment information

Information that must be provided by Customers in order to pay with the selected payment method

Payment methods, Store payment methods

The methods offered by Merchant in which Customers can pay for ordered catalog entries

Offline payment method

A payment method whose technical specifications do not allow for a payment being processed over Internet (e.g. bank transfer, cheque, direct debit, cash on delivery)

Payment systems

Payment gateway

API, Application Programming Interface

Defined ways by which an application program may request services from other applications, libraries and/or web service providers

Integration methods, Integration APIs

Integration APIs provided by a payment system

3D Secure, 3DS, Verified by Visa, MasterCard SecureCode, J/Secure

A Visa program designed to provide online merchants the added security of having Issuing banks authenticate their individual cardholders and qualify their online transactions for protection fraud or chargeback.

Services based on 3D Secure protocol have also been adopted by MasterCard, under the name MasterCard SecureCode, and by JCB International as J/Secure.

When a merchant does not use 3-D Secure they are liable for fraudulent transactions even if the transaction was properly authorized

Card Security Code, CSC, CVC, CVV, CID

A 3 or 4 digit value printed, not embossed, on the card, that merchants and others use to verify that the shopper has the card in their physical possession, giving some protection against credit card fraud. There is a slightly different brand per card scheme: CVC Card Validation Code (MasterCard), CVV Card Verification Value (Visa), CID Card Identification Number (American Express).

PCI DSS, Payment Card Industry Security Standard

A Visa and MasterCard standard that requires merchants to manage user access to systems involved in credit card processing

PA DSS, Payment Application Data Security Standard

A standard that applies to software vendors and others who develop payment applications that store, process, or transmit cardholder data as part of authorization or settlement, where these payment applications are sold, distributed, or licensed to third parties

Payment transaction

The action between Customer and Merchant that results in financial activity between their accounts

Payment status, Payment transaction status

The current processing stage of the payment transaction

Pending payment, Requested payment, Queued payment

The payment has been requested but a payment result is not available

Authorized payment, Open payment

The payment has been authorized but has not yet been captured

Captured payment

The payment has been captured or settled

Canceled payment

The payment authorization has been canceled

Expired authorization

The payment authorization expired

Payment processing stages

Processing stages of a payment transaction

Payment attempt, Request for payment

Submission of payment details to an acquirer for authorization or settlement

Authorization

A process whereby a transaction for a specified amount is approved by a card issuer or an acquirer on behalf of a card issuer. This approval confirms that the card number is valid, not reported lost or stolen and that funds were available at the time of the transaction. An authorized payment can be captured

Cancellation, Void

A process to cancel an authorized, not yet captured payment

Capture

A process whereby a specified amount of an authorized payment is collected from the acquirer

Automatic capture

Automatic capture of an authorized payment after the defined capture delay for that account

Manual capture

Manually initiate the authorization to collect money from a credit card

Partial capture

Capture of part of an authorized payment

Settlement, Sale

Authorization and Capture performed as one operation on a payment transaction

Refund, Credit

A Merchant instruction to the financial institution, to return or repay part or all of an amount paid for ordered products to a shopper

Chargeback

A transaction dispute procedure, initiated by a cardholder/customer, which may result in a credit being issued to the cardholders account and a debit being applied to the customer's account. This may happen for a number of reasons, but most often a chargeback is triggered by a cardholder disputing a transaction, in-whole or in-part

Expired authorization

An authorization that has exceeded the period in which the payment can be captured

Deferred payment processing, Deferred payments

Payment processing that involves Authorize and Capture performed as individual operations. That enables the merchant to check a shopper's credentials/creditworthiness before providing the ordered products

Order fulfillment

A process of allocating ordered products and getting them delivered to Customers

Delivery

Delivery of ordered products to Customers

Shipping

Transportation of tangible products from Merchant or Drop shipper to Customer

Digital delivery, Digital distribution, Download

Delivery of intangible products to Customers over the Internet

Shipment

Ordered products dispatched from Merchant or Drop shipper at the same time and either being delivered or already delivered to Customer

Shipment item

Usually it is an order item included into the shipment. However, the same order item can be split into multiple shipment items when delivered in multiple shipments.

Parcel, Package

The individual products that make up a shipment. All shipment items are packaged and delivered to the customer in one or multiple parcels (depends on their weights and dimensions)

Parcel item

Usually it is an order item included into the parcel. However, the same order item can be split into multiple parcel items due to weight limits or max allowed parcel dimensions

Packing slip

A printed document containing a list of all catalog entries and their quantities in a parcel. Typically, this document also contains the ship-to address, shipping carrier information, and sometimes pricing information. The packing slip is used by the fulfillment center to package the products in a parcel for shipping. It may then be included in the parcel itself so that the customer can verify that the correct products were sent.

Product box

A virtual box that a tangible product occupies in a parcel when is being delivered to Customers

Product dimensions

Dimensions of the product box

Quantity per box

The product quantity that fits in one product box

Shipping label

A label the merchant affixes to a parcel in order to get it correctly delivered by the shipping carrier

Parcel Tracking

A system used by some shipping carriers that records the shipping status of each parcel being delivered

Tracking number, tracking #

A unique identifier assigned to a parcel by a shipping carrier, identifying the parcel during parcel tracking

Shipping status

The current delivery stage of a parcel. Possible statuses are:- Shipped (the parcel has been shipped to the customer)- En route (the parcel is being delivered to the customer)- Delivered (the parcel is delivered to the customer)

Order status

The current processing stage of an order. Usually there are following stages:

a customer places an order

an order is put on hold for administrative review by the merchant; the merchant reviews the order and either accepts or declines it

either the fulfillment center or a drop shipper fulfills the order by allocating ordered products from stock, packing them into parcels and shipping them to the customer via a shipping carrier

when an order is being fulfilling, it can be put on hold for some reasons (for example, some of products were back ordered and currently there is not enough products in stock to fulfill the order)

when an order is not fulfilled, the merchant can cancel and modify it by adding more order items, deleting or updating quantities of existing order items (except the products which are already shipped), and editing the values which sum up into the total order cost

when all ordered products are delivered to the customer, the order is considered as completed

Stale order

An order that has been in existence for a long time without being processed and fulfilled

Special offer

Special offers are a specific type of marketing promotion in which the merchant rewards customers who meet particular conditions

Wholesale price, bracket prices

A special price for the product when the product is purchased in quantity above a particular number of product units

Discount

Percentage or fixed reduction to a price or a sum

Simple discount

Discount on the product unit price

Quantity discount

Discount on the unit price when the product is purchased in quantity above a particular number of product units

Paired discount

Discount on the product unit price for purchasing a set of units of other products

Order discount

Discount on total order cost

Volume discount

Discount on total order cost for orders above a particular sum

Cumulative volume discount

Discount on total order cost for returning customers whose past orders are above a particular sum in total

Products on sale

Products, offered to customers either at a special price or with simple discounts applied on them

Free shipping

100% discount on the shipping cost of a particular shipping method for orders above a particular sum

Free gift

A product or a set of products, offered to a customer for free for purchasing a set of units of other products

Reward points

Points which customers are rewarded with for spending a particular amount of money or buying particular products and which can be either exchanged for particular products, or converted to an order discount during later purchases

Coupon

A number or a string a customer is to provide during checkout in order to be eligible for the special offer

Percentage off

The percentage amount that the unit price is decreased with for sale at a special or a discounted price

Priority of special offers

The priority in which special offers are applied to orders

Interaction Policies for Special offers

Rules that determine whether an item can receive multiple awards. Possible policies are:- Condition items of this special offer can be reused as condition items for other special offers- Condition items of this special offer can be reused as award items for other special offers- Award items of this special offer can be reused as condition items for other special offers- Award items of this special offer can be reused as award items for other special offers

Award items

Items which sums are reduced by the special offer or which are offered to customers for free

Condition items

Items which trigger the special offer to be applied on an order

Customer group

The group a customer must be a member of in order to be eligible for the special offer

Cross sell

Suggesting a customer yet pricier products which are related or complimentary either to the products he views in the product catalog or to the products he has added to his shopping cart

Upsell

Suggesting a customer to replace a product he is looking at in the product catalog or have in his shopping basket with a better and yet pricier product

Accessories

Products that complement the products which a customer either views in the product catalog or has added to his shopping cart

Product return, RMA, Return merchandise authorization

A transaction whereby the customer arranges to return products to the merchant to have the product repaired or replaced or in order to receive a refund or credit for another product from the merchant

Reasons for return

Reasons why the customer returns products to the merchant. Common reasons are:- Customer does not want product- Defect in the product- Incorrect product shipped- Product ordered incorrectly- Order entered incorrectly- Duplicate order shipped

Request for product return

A customer's request for product return

RMA number

An identifier attached to an RMA by the merchant

Mailing list, Distribution list

A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include the people subscribed to such a list

Newsletter

A regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers

List of subscribers

A mailing list of subscribers on a newsletter

Affiliate plan

Conditions under which the merchant pays commission to affiliates

Multi-tier affiliate plan

An affiliate plan that assumes that the merchant will pay commission not just for customers the affiliate refers, but also for affiliates he refers

Affiliate level

The number of steps the affiliate receiving commission is far from the customer placed the order. If an affiliate is the one who referred the customer to the store, his level is 1. If there is another affiliate between them, the affiliate level is 2. And so on.